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SIDEWALK WAIVER REQUEST

STAFF REPORT Date: April 5, 2018

NAME MTC Logistics of Alabama, LLC

LOCATION 250 Yeend Street

(Southwest corner of Yeend Street and Baker Street).

PRESENT ZONING I-2, Heavy Industry District

ENGINEERING

COMMENTS

Baker Street: It appears that there is sufficient room within the ROW, or within the

property, for the construction of a sidewalk that could be permitted through the ROW

Permit process; however, due to the industrial zoning and the width of the existing

roadside drainage ditch it is recommended that this request be approved.

South Lawrence Street: Due to the location and size of the existing roadside drainage

ditch and fencing it is recommended that this request be approved.

Yeend Street: Due to the location and size of the existing roadside drainage ditch and

fencing it is recommended that this request be approved.

TRAFFIC ENGINEERING

COMMENTS No comments.

URBAN FORESTRY

COMMENTS Property to be developed in compliance with state and local

laws that pertain to tree preservation and protection on both city and private properties (State Act

2015-116 and City Code Chapters 57 and 64).

REMARKS The applicant is requesting a waiver for the construction of

a sidewalk along Baker Street, South Lawrence Street and Yeend Street.

The applicant received Subdivision approval at the Commission’s February 1st meeting, and has

a Frontage Tree Planting Variance scheduled for the April 2nd

Board of Zoning Adjustment

meeting. The site is now proposed for development and no public sidewalks are proposed; hence

this application.

It should be noted that the Mobile City Council adopted a “complete streets” policy on May 31,

2011. The purpose of the complete streets policy is to support the design and construction of

streets to enable safe access to all users, including pedestrians, bicyclists, transit riders, motorists,

commercial and emergency vehicles, and for people of all ages and abilities.

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The site has been given a Heavy Industry (HI) land use designation, per the recently adopted

Future Land Use Plan and Map. The Future Land Use Plan and Map complements and provides

additional detail to the Development Framework Maps in the Map for Mobile, adopted by the

Planning Commission at its November 5, 2015 meeting.

This land use designation mostly applies to larger parcels primarily developed to high-impact

industrial activity which is preferably removed from residential and commercial uses. Light

industry, industrial business or heavy commercial lands may separate heavy industry from other

land uses.

Heavy industrial areas include collection, treatment, and manufacturing processes which use raw

materials, are distinguished by the presence of noise, vibration, and/or odors, and benefit from

easy access to a multimodal freight transportation network. Certain types of heavy industry are

characterized by low building coverage and activities that rely on large areas of outdoor storage

of raw material stockpiles and/or waste-product disposal areas, storage tanks, pipelines, and

transportation yards to handle the transfer of heavy materials. The outdoor storage areas should

be screened as much as possible by the nature of the stored materials.

Land designated as HI may be underdeveloped due to the presence of wetlands on portions of the

parcel. In these cases, the wetlands may serve to buffer surrounding uses from the potential

impacts of the heavy industrial use. Undeveloped areas of HI parcels that have tree cover may be

used as buffering between the heavy industrial use and other uses. Where buffers do not exist

naturally, they should be provided as spelled out in the zoning and subdivision regulations. Open

areas reserved for dredge disposal are also designated as HI and may contain wetlands.

In Mobile, port terminal facilities, docks, shipyards, drydocks, etc., are mostly owned by the

State of Alabama. Although not subject to local zoning, these facilities are shown as heavy

industrial uses in the FLUM.

It should be noted that the Future Land Use Plan and Map components of the Map for Mobile

Plan are meant to serve as a general guide, not a detailed lot and district plan. In many cases the

designation on the new Future Land Use Map may match the existing use of land, but in others

the designated land use may differ from what is on the ground today. As such, the Future Land

Use Plan and Map allows the Planning Commission and City Council to consider individual

cases based on additional information such as the classification request, the surrounding

development, the timing of the request, and the appropriateness and compatibility of the

proposed use and, where applicable, the zoning classification.

The site is situated within an industrial area and no other properties within the area have public

sidewalks provided.

The applicant states:

A sidewalk waiver for the frontage along Baker Street, Lawrence Street and Yeend Street

is being requested due to the open ditches and lack of curb and gutter on the rights of

way in question. Additionally, the width of the Yeend Street right of way combined with

the location of the transmission line power poles along Yeend Street adjacent to the

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subject property makes construction of a sidewalk in the right of way at that location

impracticable.

The subject property is zoned I-2 and is across the street from the Port Authority’s

container terminal. The over-sized component parts used by Airbus are moved along the

Baker Street right of way to the Airbus facility at Brookley Field.

Engineering has concluded that due to the combination of industrial zoning and the location and

size of existing roadside drainage ditches and fencing, the request to waive construction of

sidewalks along all street frontages be approved.

RECOMMENDATION Based upon the preceding, this application for waiver of

sidewalks along Baker Street, South Lawrence Street and Yeend Street is recommended for

approval.

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